Skull and Shackles

- Squibbing complete!
- Peggsworthy christens your ship, “The Devilfish”, smashing a bottle of Sargavan wine upon the keel.
- Rickety toasts to your fortune, “Good fortune and sure sail await whosoever can crack the Tidewater Rock!”
- You set sail, shake down your crew, re-figure some ship roles, administer some punishments, develop some rules.
- One night your ship is attacked by three Sahuagin! Your captain is on watch, along with some sailors, and sounds the alarm. You slay the intruding fish men.
- You come upon the Ginger Belle and decide to attack. After a long chase you close and grapple. Just before the hand to hand fighting engages, Captain Ragnar makes a stirring speech, calling on the other ship to surrender. Surprisingly, they do, and you gain some captives (the Captains), some crew, and some now-rescued slaves.
- You split your crew between the two ships and sail on the Port Peril, perhaps to sell your newest booty.

Thankfully, though you’re sure you could have won, the Chelish galleon is a pirate’s prize ship, here to be squibbed. Captain Merrill Peggsworth (formerly a military man of Andoran) parlays with you, and, when he realizes that you’re formerly crew of Harrigan’s, is quite happy to keep mum about your new ship, if only to put one over on Harrigan (who he seems to QUITE dislike). Peggsworth is friendly and happy to chat, and even offers to christen your ship. It is considered good luck in the Shackles for a ship to be christened by a Free Pirate Captain, or a noble lady.

Peggsworthy is also apologetic to have barged in on your squibbing. The protocol here at Rickety’s is that an arriving ship does not sail into the bay unless the current squibbing is complete, signalled by the flags on the lookout tower. This ensures that anonymity is maintained (and does not strain the fragile trust between pirate captains). When Peggsworthy sailed in, no flags were evident. Rickety is concerned when he hears this and asks you to investigate what could have happened to his towerkeeper, Lyle Godwin. He also offers to knock 100gp off the cost of the squibbing.

The trail to the tower winds through the jungle, then follows a knife-edged ridgeline as it climbs along the headland. It’s rocky, steep, overgrown with jungle growth, and drops sharply 50 feet or so to the cove beneath. On the narrow path you encounter two wild boars. They aggressively attack you on the 5’ narrow path. You leave Barnaby behind to dress the carcasses as you press on to the tower.

At the tower you find a many broken rum bottles, and the dead lookout, Lyle Godwin. You eventually hypothesize that he was killed by the giant wasps. You also find his parrot, Rotgut, who follows you forlornly back to the village. You toss Godwin’s body down to the bay for later retrieval and bring his his magical mace back to Rickety.

A bit restless as the squibbing process continues, you cast about for something to do and hear of some suspicious activity near the village. You venture out to one tidepool/fishing spot and encounter a very odd type of shambling zombie – it has some sort of shelled and tentacled creature on its head! The shelled creature speaks in your minds, wondering if you’d be better bearers for it. As you take down the dead human, the shelled creature tries to latch on to one of you, but you slay it as well.

The next day, at a different tidepool, you encounter a creature that looks like a cross between a small dragon and a lobster. It has chosen a picturesque tidepool as its lair and it does not wish to move on. You battle it for quite some time. It keeps casting obscuring mist and hiding within the mist as it bedevils you with breath weapons and other spells. It seems to take great enjoyment out of playing hide and seek with you and taunting you. Eventually you vanquish it and it is forced to give you it’s treasure.

Your squibbing is almost complete! Soon you will be sailing the seas and looking for prey!

Before they leave Bonewrack Isle, the crew decides to harvest as much corn as possible, and proceed very carefully to avoid any crew getting ghoul fever. The corn is both for food and for cover as cargo if they should meet some someone both dangerous and officious before they reach their next destination. Also before they leave, Barnaby befriends a small monkey (an Emperor Tamarin) that he names Hector in honour of the crazed island survivor who helped rescue him.

They have decided to voyage to Rickety’s Squibs, as Plugg had also planned. Changing the ship’s identity is important to avoid authorities, to avoid Captain Harrigan’s revenge, and to make it easier to prey on other ships.

Rickety’s Squibs is about 100 miles away, about a two day journey assuming fair winds and a full crew (which you have, just barely). The voyage is calm calm and uneventful and gives the crew a chance to start to get comfortable in their new roles. The last day of your journey you notice that the winds are a bit dull and the heat a bit excessive.

You sail round a tall headland and see Rickety’s village and the series of docks. You notice the watchtower on the promontory and see it signal the village. A single-masted longboat sets out from dock to meet you. Rickety himself is aboard, and he boards your ship when you grant permission and sets to evaluating your ship and negotiating price with you.

You settle on a squibbing, the installation of a ram and a rudder, and the repair of the deck that had been scavenged to fix the hole in the hull. Luckily, you have enough plunder and magic items to trade to cover the costs, and you don’t have to consider Rickety’s offers of payment plans or co-ownership in your ship. Through it all, Rickety maintains his friendly demeanor, though at one point a sharp comment from Captain Wormtongue almost causes him to cool towards you. Maisie manages to brush off the comment as a joke, and Rickety regains his humour. He also tells you of the extreme heatwave and drought that has beset the village and surrounding area for the last month.

The work on your ship will take at least eight days, and you discover that you can stay in the Commons area free of charge, included with your purchase. But you have to buy or find your own food and drink, and you are most certainly welcome to purchase anything else you might need from the friendly villagers.

The next couple days are calm and restful. By now everyone is rested and healed of their Bonewrack Isle misadventures. On the third day you experience one negative consequence of the drought – a young naga, crazed from being driven out of her habitat and into uncomfortable waters has snapped and attacks you and some sailors down by the docks as you set up to play some lazy lawn bowling. You defeat her and save your crew member.

A couple days later a cloud of horse sized giant wasps descend upon the village. As everyone madly dashes for cover, the wasps are attacking and attempting to drag paralyzed people off to eat at leisure. You make it to the safety of inside the Commons after one skirmish, only to notice some villagers being attacked nearby. Maisie dashes out to help, so the rest of you follow to help her, and you manage to save the villager to the delight of the other workers watching from the safety of the Commons. Rickety is so pleased he gives you a 500gp discount on your squibbing!

The wasps finally disperse. Several workers lie on the ground, paralyzed or slain. Just a few have been carried off by the giant vermin. Overall, casualties were light and everyone is thankful. Suddenly, someone shouts an alarm and villagers once more scatter for cover.

A Chelish galleon can be seen anchored in the cove and an armed party is just clambering onto the docks from their launch!

You enter the lair, now at low tide. As you explore the mostly empty caverns and tunnels you find the nasty traps and surprises that the grindylows had prepared. Some caverns have beds of seaweed, good for the creatures to hide in and also laced with floating hooks and barbs to snag and entangle cloth or armor wearers. One cavern has a cavern “floor” made of a series of metal bars, beneath which are trapped two lacedons eager to lash out at anyone who swims nearby or who walks across the bars. Another cave had a heavy spiked iron grille ready to pin an air breather beneath it to drown.

You reach the Devilfish’s cavern, which at low tide is completely unsubmerged. The fight is still quite formidable, and your new companion Hektor loses his life just before he is finally about to escape this deathtrap of an island.

In the next room you find the two crewmembers stolen from your ship, Sandara Quinn and “Ratline” Rattsberger, as well as Barnaby! They are all barely alive, hanging from the ceiling of this immense cavern, bound hand and foot with thick strands of seaweed and sinew and weighted with heavy ingots of silver. They are guarded by the last remaining grindylow, the immense son of the Brinebrood Queed. He is called The Whale. As you enter the room, he is casually pulling off Ratline’s leg for a snack, though his mother exhorted him to leave the prisoners alive as bait until her return.

As he is essentially alone, you handily defeat the Whale (though he tries to swallow you). You discover two more lacedons chained to the bottom of the cavern with masterwork manacles. They would have gladly attacked and eaten the prisoners had the grindylows cut the ropes to let the silver ingots drag them to their doom.

You find a number of precious objects in the lair, including a 25 pound elaborately scrimshawed whale skull, whose carvings function as a variety of arcane scrolls. Sandara Quinn gifts you with her Besmara’s tricorne as a token of her gratitude for rescuing her. Ratline may have to be called Pegleg after this, but he too is thankful for your rescue.

You briefly row out to the wreck of the Infernus to investigate, slay a young giant moray eel, and find a few treasures amongst the wreckage.

You rest once more on the beach, load up the cutter with the food, water and rescued crewmates, and head off around the isle to see if Mr. Plugg has abandoned you to Bonewrack Isle.

As you round the tip of the island you see the Man’s Promise is still there, at least a day and a half past Mr. Plugg’s deadline to you. You also see the other ship’s boat headed toward the island. You meet at sea and find Kroop and mostly other friendly crewmembers aboard. They’ve been sent for water since you haven’t returned, and the ship still needs water before it can set sail. Mr. Plugg is beyond furious, Kroop informs you, and plans to slaughter you as soon as you return. Most of the crew, being friendly with you, is unhappy with this plan of action. Now is your time to mutiny! Defend yourselves and take the ship from Plugg who’d already betrayed his captain to take the ship for himself!

You tell Kroop and his boat of crew to hang back as you row towards the Man’s Promise. As you approach, Plugg bellows to you that for your disobedience and failures he has decided that you shall suffer the death penalty. He orders the crew to open fire. Most of the crew fire to miss you, and you come up to the ship unharmed. You swarm up onto deck and a fierce battle ensues. The crew hangs back, some plainly unwilling to attack you though too cowed to help you attack Plugg and Scourge. But some of the crew hold off Owlbear and the few newer crew who would be helping try to kill you.

Plugg and Scourge put up a good fight, but eventually perish. Near the end of the fight Plugg attempts to disengage and leap into the water, but you slay him before he can escape.

You have successfully mutinied! The ship is yours! All that remains is to decide on who fills what officer positions, and what shall be the next step in your ever growing pirate legend!

A Devilfish and a death?

(Out of game: Happy Birthday to Karen!)

You decide to travel overland to the edge of the island to find the grindylow lair, and, you hope, to find your crewmates alive. When you get near you find a sinkhole cove about 50 feet from the cliff’s edge. You can see that there are two tunnel openings below. You dive down into the cove after ascertaining that it would be safe to do so. You did not notice a stirge nest near the top of the cove, but you avoid the stirges as they try to attack you by darting into one of the tunnels.

You eventually discover that Riptide Cove is a series of low natural tunnels and caverns around a deep central chamber (known as the Cauldron). Save for tiny air pockets above some of the larger caverns, the complex is completely submerged at high tide. At low tide, the tunnels are mostly free of water, but many of the caverns remain half-flooded. The tunnels are littered with partially eaten bones sucked clean of flesh. The grindylows decorate these bones with strange scrimshaw, and tie them together with sinew to create revolting “sculptures” resembling lurking horrors and twisted sea creatures from the depths, the product of sadistic and almost alien minds.

You have entered the grindylow lair at high tide, which is most disadvantageous to you. You successfully defeat a couple groups of grindylows, but all turns to disaster as you encounter the formidable Devilfish, the ultimate guardian before the Brinebrood Queen’s lair (and your captive crewmates). The fight quickly turns against you as the Devilfish clouds the waters with its magical unholy blood ink. Ragnar’s eidolon is killed in one round of vicious tentacle attacks, and Barnaby is heavily wounded. Barnaby calls for you all to flee, and is nabbed by a tentacle from out of the dark waters as you begin your retreat. Barnaby exhorts you to save yourselves and leave him behind, then is squeezed into motionlessness. You retreat as Barnaby’s body disappears, dragged back into the inky waters.

Retreating to the shore, you find that F’leeta, who stayed behind to guard the cutter, water and food, has made a surprising discovery. There was one more survivor on the island! Hektor is a slightly crazed, bushy bearded slaver who is eager to get off the island. You all rest and recuperate, and to hell with Mr. Plugg’s deadline: You are determined to rescue anyone who might be captive in the grindylow lair!

After a rest, and now at low tide, you unload the food and water from the cutter and row around the south tip of the island to the water entrance of the grindylow lair. You are surprised to see the entire tribe exiting the lair. (Bored with waiting for food to come to them, with their specially prepared crewmember lures, the grindylows have massed to attack the ship.) Now that you are on a more level playing field, you handily massacre the grindylows.

During the battle, Hektor distinguishes himself by grappling with the Brinebrood queen to disrupt her spellcasting. But Hektor’s behavior is slightly worrisome, as well. At one point in the battle, a companion falls and Hektor exclaims, “Mine!” while gesturing to the body’s loot. He also frequently refers to all the treasure as “his”.

Too many ghouls spoil the island paradise

As you break your fast with more crabmeat, you decide which way to explore first. Bonewrack isle has a huge ridge towering over it’s western portion. There is a single raised tor is at the extreme northeast edge of the isle. Miles of thick jungle lie between the two prominent landmarks.

You notice a path that runs along near where you camped, and find signs that is has been recently used by humanoids. You decide to venture northeast along the path. After a few hours of travel you come to a huge tree in the middle of a clearing in the swamp. The area is filled with the terrible stench of cheap perfume and rotting flesh. Some sort of huge tent is draped over the tree. Both tree and tent are covered with lurid painted faces, rotting humanoid body part and carpets of squirming insects. You quickly discover that inside the tent is the lair of three ghouls, dressed in decaying silks and vermin infested dresses. After you defeat them you find surprising treasure inside the tent, amongst the piles of rotting clothing and mouldering cushions.

Continuing NE on the path, you come to a large green bog and the remnants of an old wooden bridge that used to cross it. As you try to carefully navigate this salt river quicksand you are surprised by giant frogs who try to swallow some of you whole.

You finally win through the jungle to the island’s northern beach, where you find a small gathering of collapsed mud huts. It looks like it has been abandoned for decades. You make your way to the tor at the NE point of the island. It is a glowering fist of granite that rises 50 feet high. It is a fairly easy climb, and from the top you have a fine view of: the Man’s Promise; fields that form a break in the jungle (to the SW of your landing site); and a stockade on the ridge to the west. You also find an old beacon fire atop the summit, unlit and clearly made by some castaway who hoped to signal be rescued by some passing ship.

You retrace your steps to your crab palm beach, then continue SW to a clearing in the jungle where fields of corn have gone wild, a square mile’s worth. You decide to harvest as much as you can for food aboard ship, and proceed to cut into the 8 foot high cornfield. As you progress you discover two things. The first is that whoever planted the field erected scarecrows topped with the heads of real humans scattered about the field. The heads appear infested with flying bugs and you don’t disturb them. The second thing you discover is the ankheg which lurks beneath the soil of the field. You handily dispatch it and reap a fine harvest.

You finally ascend the only path up the cliffs. Simple steps have been cut into the rock and the path has not overgrown again from when it had been cleared of vegetation. At the top you find a well built timber stockade surrounding a small lodge, and a huge tree, in a jungle clearing. Inside is also a clear and bubbling spring, the only source of fresh water on the island. Inside the stockade you are attacked by vine chokers hiding in the tree. You also find a spyglass affixed to the stockade wall. It is pointed at the waters off the SW edge of the isle. Through it you see grindylows frolicking in the water of the cove. One of them is wearing Sandara’s tricorne hat!

Inside the stockade lodge you find a single chamber crowded with a large amount of furniture salvaged from a ship, a small writing desk with papers and a journal on it, barrels of rotted food, and a single hanging corpse beside a kicked over stool. You defeat the hanging ghast, and barely defeat the cloud of ghoul fever infected botflies that laired in his head. After, you search the room and read the journal and discover that this was Aaron Ivy, the last survivor of the wreck of the Chelish ship the Infernus. He lasted longer than any of the other survivors of the wreck, but hanged himself when he felt the ghoul fever overcoming him.

The party was raucous, and at the end of it Captain Harrigan convinced most of the Rahadoumi crew that becoming pirates was a better option than becoming shark food. The officers were led away to be held prisoner until they are ransomed.

Captain Harrigan then announced that the Rahadoumi ship is now his prize ship, and Mister Plugg will sail her to Port Peril for sale as salvage. The Rahadoumi crew will remain aboard the Wormwood and the majority of the lower level Wormwood crew, including your group, will sail on the prize ship. Mister Plugg also chooses Master Scourge, Ambrose Kroop, and Owlbear Hartshorn to sail with him.

On the first day on the Man’s Promise acting captain Plugg and his first mate Master Scourge inform the crew that the rules are the same as before except for one difference. Discipline will be a good deal harsher than on the lackadaisical Wormwood – all crimes are now punishable with the cat instead of the whip.

The work is hard, as the ship is slightly undermanned, and fatigue and exhaustion dog your every action. Plugg and Scourge continue to assign you the worst or least favorite jobs on board.

Rumours spread that Plugg will claim the Man’s Promise for himself, rumours that you have confirmation of from overhearing a secret meeting on the first night. The crew is nervous that Plugg will get rid of them to eliminate awkward witnesses. You notice that the ship’s course has been changed to head east toward Bloodcove, a notorious port on the edge of the Mwangi Expanse. Kroop confirms that there is a seedy, isolated dry dock on the Slithering Coast west of Bloodcove called Rickety’s Squibs. Rickety refits ships and provides new identities, for a price.

On the fourth day a hard storm hits the Man’s Promise. During the storm two sailors disappear, one of them Sandara Quinn! Barnaby swears he saw her snatched by tentacled aberrations, the same kind that he, Maisie, Feleeta, Ragnar and Rosie also had a deadly encounter with during the storm.

The storm begins to abate on the beginning of the fifth day, but the ship hits the coral reefs surrounding Bonewrack Isle. As the tide goes out, the crew sees that the Man’s Promise is holed in the main hold on the starboard side of the ship, and the ship’s water barrel, nearby, has burst.

Plugg orders the group to take the ship’s cutter to get water from the isle (either maliciously or superstitiously refusing to drink conjured water). The repairs will take a day and a half, and the ship will sail at the first high tide thereafter, with or without the group. You have effectively 48 hours to return.

You row the cutter around almost a quarter of the island before you find a nice beach to land on. Since you are all exhausted you decide to sleep for eight hours before you explore. Maisie fills the water barrels with her spells, since Plugg can’t complain about water that he doesn’t see conjured.

Before you can rest you encounter the giant coconut crabs that live on the beach and have a dangerous fight with them. You survive, have a delicious crab repast, and sleep uninterrupted for 8 hours. When you awake it is roughly six in the afternoon. It is a beautiful day and the (normal sized) coconut crabs skitter about the beach in the peaceful afternoon.

Day fourteen of your journey on the Wormwood proves to be a break from your regular routine of duty. Riaris Krine, master gunner, is an officer whom you’ve had little contact with so far. She’s tough and competent, and her peg leg does not hinder her duties. She takes you in hand to show you, and make you practice the ways of boarding another ship.

She launches the jolly boat and for the rest of the day you practice grappling the Wormwood, 40’ away, tying off your rope, then attempting to board the Wormwood by climbing along the rope. Crew members on deck pelt you with random objects and garbage, trying to knock you off as you climb, simulating a real attack. Krine makes everyone attempt it at least three times, though if they fail three times she relents, figuring they know the process even if they suck at it.

Over the next few days you continue to make friends with the ship’s crew. In fact, except for those crew members who are dedicated Plugg and Scourge cronies, you successfully befriend the whole crew! You also notice that the friendship you’ve offered Ambrose Kroop seems to be improving his attitude to the point that he is drinking somewhat less [there was only a 25% chance of his being too drunk to be able to cook each day].

Also during this time Scourge and Plugg pay special attention to your group [no taking 10 on rigging climb checks]. Plugg assigns you the worst duties every day and soundly abuses, bullies, and tries to humiliate you. Barnaby and Ragnar are sentenced to the lash again (bringing Ragnar and Maisie even on the lashes-taken tally). Ragnar, being assigned to the bilge almost constantly, fights off more bilge spiders.

Maisie gets Kroop a bit more friendly (less hostile) towards her. She also finds some very expensive sealed brandy lost in the kitchen and manages to move it to a locked locker without Kroop’s noticing.

On the nineteenth day, Scourge again assigns Ragnar to man the bilges. Scourge has a particularly nasty smirk as he also assigns Jaundiced Jape and Aretta Bansion to the same task. Plugg and Scourge “just happen” to search Ragnar for hidden weapons before he goes down to work. After not a very long time, Aretta accuses Ragnar of slacking and attacks with her previously concealed dagger. Jape joins in and it is obvious that they intend to kill Ragnar. After a harrowing battle, Ragnar and his eidolon win, but Aretta and Jape are dead. And the penalty for killing a member of the crew is keelhauling.

Scourge and Plugg seem angry that their catspaws are dead, but happy enough that Ragnar is to be keelhauled. Ragnar is locked in the sweatbox to await keelhauling at the end of the following day. On the next day, as Ragnar languishes in the sweatbox, the rest of the group frantically tries to figure out how to save him. Barnaby starts a trend of a work strike, earning tongue lashings and rope bashes.

In the afternoon the lookout cries “Ship ahoy!” Captain Harrigan immediately turns the Wormwood to pursue, and Ragnar is released from sweatbox. All hands will be needed for boarding and conquering the Rahadoumi merchant vessel Man’s Promise! Over 12 hours later, the ships close in distance. Harrigan orders Kroop and Maisie to slaughter 6 pigs and toss them overboard to attract sharks.

Krine gives your group orders for the upcoming battle. You’re to grapple over, kill the sterncastle guards, then guard the ship’s wheel and lifeboats and kill anyone who tries to escape. You manage to convince her that you need help, and two of your friendly pirates are assigned to help.

The battle is fierce. Ranged attacks both mundane and magical fly between the ships as they close the last distance. Peppery Longfarthing unleashes clouds of fog on the prey ship to confound ranged defenses (and continues to do so over the course of the battle as the fog blows away). The battle rages, and as you fight you catch glimpses of the farther-away fighting as the fog billows. You hear the clash of arms and the screams of sailors in the water being attacked by sharks.

The battle is also quite brief [16 rounds]. During that time your group slays the 6 sailors who guard the sterncastle and aft deck. You see Captain Harrigan about to be backstabbed by a Rahadoumi sailor and yell out a warning. An explosion rocks the Man’s Promise (you later discover that Kipper set off a barrel of alchemist’s fire belowdecks, and survived). You successfully defeat 3 Rahadoumi sailors who attempt to flee by lifeboat. You glimpse Captain Harrigan through a break in the fog, holding what appears to be a human heart in his hands. In the final moments of the battle, a Rahadoumi officer and two sailors try to fight by you to escape and you defeat them as well. As the battle ends, the fog dissipates and a line of prisoners is paraded before Captain Harrigan and the cheering crew of the Wormwood.

The party that follows is filled with fine food and drink from the Man’s Promise’s hold, and lasts for 36 hours, well into the next night (naturally, no work takes place during the party)[you’ll be able to take 5 ship actions if you wish, during next game]. Captain Harrigan and his top officers divvy up the plunder and your group gets bonuses for good work, for warning Captain Harrigan, for each Rahadoumi sailor you slew, and another bonus for defeating the Rahadoumi officer.

Plugg and Scourge glower as you receive rewards, but they cannot argue against Captain Harrigan’s decisions and your obvious victories.

Life is never dull on a pirate ship!

Life on a pirate ship is never dull, though it is sometimes repetitive. How much rope can one ship need coiled?

One evening Mr Plugg brings his “pet” above-decks. Owlbear Hartshorn is a large man, but a simpleton. Mr Plugg abuses him abominably, but Owlbear seems to accept it as his due. Owlbear capers briefly for the crew, pitifully grateful for the laughs he gets. Plugg taunts and challenges you until Barnaby accepts the challenge to fight Owlbear, bare hands only. Barnaby throws the fight as sneakily as possible (after a couple of attempts) and Owlbear emerges the slightly confused champion.

A couple days of regular tasks pass. On the eighth day a storm well and truly hits the Wormwood. Regular crew duties are suspended as every sailor (even the cook’s helper) is told to take to the rigging to see the ship through the storm. The day is gruelingly difficult.

In the afternoon one of your friends falls overboard! With quick thinking and well placed aid you manage to save their life, earning their gratitude and showing the rest of the crew that you will fight to save a companion’s life.

You fight the storm through the evening and night, and on the next morning the ship is safe, but normal work remains. Everyone fights through exhaustion to complete their day’s tasks.

On the eleventh day the ship is in shallow water near some reefs. Plugg sends you and Rosie Cusswell to swim out to the reefs and capture enough crabs for the Captain’s supper. While collecting crabs, you’re attacked by reefclaws, who look to make a fine meal out of you!

Despite the difficult fighting conditions, teamwork and a well summoned dolphin save the day. Maisie goes on to cook a delicious crab and reef crab feast, much to the crew’s delight (and surprise). The captain is so pleased he compliments Maisie’s cooking and gives the group a gift. Plugg looks on, glowering.

By the end of the thirteenth day you’ve made fast friends with over a third of the regular crew.

Pressed to Piracy

A Pirate’s Life For You!

You started your day with dreams and hopes, you might have had a plan… but the press gang for The Wormwood made your decision for you. When you woke up you were too far out to sea for any recourse but to learn to live as pirates on a ship you didn’t choose.

On your first day you were roughly assigned as either swab, rigger, or cook’s helper. You saw the consequences of sloth or backtalk (lashes or the hotbox) and you saw the horrifying fate of thieves or rebels (keelhauling). A pirate’s only solace is the evening rum ration, which aids the officers in quelling rebellion more than it gives ease to the crew.

Captain Harrigan’s ship is your home now. Roughly half the crew are new recruits like you. They range from helpful to hateful, and your best bet to get along and get out alive, not to mention get a fair share of booty, is to win them over to your side.

You’ve survived your first few days aboard, you’ve won some people over to your side and you’ve confirmed your enmity with others. What shall the rest of your journey bring? Will you ever rise to running your own ship, or will you die an unremarked swabbie and serve only to feed the ever hungry sea?